Assassin Bug Nymph

Subject: What is this bug? Location: South-West Michigan, 20 miles from Grand Rapids, Mi May 1, 2016 2:05 pm Hello! Thank you for opening my message. I hope you’re having a wonderful day. I just found a bug of sorts crawling on my tennis shoes inside my house. I’m not sure if the insect was already inside my home or if it hitched a ride from my car in the garage to my house (five feet away). I would love to know what the bug is so that I may research it and determine how to deal with the insects, particularly if they are in my home somewhere. If you can tell me what the bug type is, I would appreciate it tremendously. The bug was walking in a fashion that, to me, more resembled a spider, but it had six legs and two long antennae. I’m not comfortable killing insects so I brought it outside. Take you’re time to answer my question. I don’t have any observable infestation. I only want to be prepared if it turns out the bug is poisonous and I see more. Thank you so much! Signature: Danielle

Assassin Bug Nymph

Dear Danielle, Your request is so tremendously polite, we could not possibly delay responding to you once we opened it. This is an immature Assassin Bug in the genus Zelus, and it is definitely an outdoor predatory species. It will be much happier outdoors and you have nothing to fear regarding an infestation of this insect. You should exercise caution, however, when handling Zelus Assassin Bugs. For some reason, they are prone to biting folks, though we suspect it is because they feel threatened. Though the bite is reported to be somewhat painful, it is not considered dangerous.